1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of scooters with a foot operated device for propelling the scooter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Scooters are well known and are propelled forward by the rider having one foot on the scooter and the other foot moving along the ground to propel the scooter forward. A conventional and popular scooter is shown in FIG. 1 and generally includes a deck 70 with a rear wheel 72 and front wheel 71. A head tube 75 is connected to a connection mechanism 74. A handlebar stem 73 is rotatably mounted to the head tube 75 with the front wheel 71 rotatably mounted to the lower end of stem 73. A handlebar is mounted atop stem 73. The rider places one foot on deck 70 and the other foot on the ground to move the scooter forward. The foot on deck 70 often feels exhausted, because it has to bear the weight of the body and keep balance during moving. Most users use a specific foot on the deck 70 so that only one foot is exercised by kicking and pushing against the ground. Some people cannot operate the scooter properly because it requires good balance sense. As a result, some people do not prefer to use the scooter because only one leg is exercised, and it is inefficient and low speed. In general, the scooter is only suitable for flat or downhill road sections and as a result the use is limited.
Treadle scooters employ a movably mounted footplate which a person may force downwardly. The footplate is drivingly engaged with the rear wheel of the scooter thereby providing some forward movement of the scooter as the footplate is moved downward. A sample of treadable scooters are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. No. 2,723,131 issued to McChesney, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 1,175,844 issued to Whitehouse; U.S. Pat. No. 3,180,656 issued to Gruenstein; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,222 issued to Moe et al. A further type of scooter having a reciprocating extending flexible member is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,029 issued to Washizawa et al.
Treadle scooters typically use a clutch ratchet wheel mechanism that transmits rotational force to the drive wheel when the foot pedal is moved down with the clutch disengaging the ratchet wheel from the wheel as the foot pedal moves up for the next cycle allowing the drive wheel to coast as the foot pedal moves up. As a result, wasted motion occurs in that continual movement of the foot pedal does not continually drive the rear wheel.
Treadle scooters require one foot of the rider to remain stationary while the other foot continually engages the foot pedal to drive the scooter. The result is awkward motion of the rider since one foot is stationary and the other foot is continually moving. A scooter that has a drive mechanism that will allow for the continual driving of the drive wheel while also allowing the user to have a balance motion when operating the drive mechanism is disclosed in FIGS. 2-7 and Chinese Patent CN2475654Y published Feb. 6, 2002.